


85 
!3 



y i slEpttmtt* 




from 

Snttqurtp 

to 
&COtt 



AN EPITOME 
ENGLISH LITERATURE 



FROM 

ANTIQUITY 

TO 

SIR WALTER SCOTT'S TIME 



BY 

CLARENCE T. MORSE 

AND 

ALBERT R. PRITCHARD 
Yale 1887 

Chiefly A. Compilation 



Published by 
The Wilton Press. Chicago, Illinois 






«*£<* 



Copyright 1920 

by 

ALBERT R. PRITCHARD 



MAR 19 1920 ., : 
©CU566355 



Jforetoorb 




OUBTLESS the aim of every 
thinking man is to be reasonably 
conversant with the literature 
of his own language but the dif- 
ficulty with many is that their 
literary study lacks system — a 
well directed and carefully chosen list of 
books is absent with the result that their 
reading is little more than a desultory 
wandering — a mere smattering knowl- 
edge of authors hardly worth while. No 
more hypnotic influence over human be- 
ings exists than a perfect command of 
language and this is achieved mainly 
through a general and close acquaintance 
with the writings of the best authors. In 
this little book English Literature is 
traced from its earliest beginning, down 
to the period of our beloved Scott, the 
spell of whose richly told tales is ever 
with us exemplifying the marked influ- 
ence of mental versatility in absorbing 
narrative so full of picture and thrilling 
action. It takes us almost to Dickens and 
the later authors of merit, but has left 
something for the reader himself to dis- 



cover. At the end is appended a list of 
books which Dr. Eliot, ex-president of 
Harvard, recommends as sufficient to 
supply the literary needs of the average 
man if he would be termed "well-read." 
To this list we have added a few volumes 
which we feel should not be over-looked. 
If by this offering we shall have stimu- 
lated any to a deeper and better under- 
standing of the English Language we 
shall feel that our work has not been 
done in vain. 

The Authors. 




8tt lEpttome nt Engltsil) 
Hxtmxtnxt 



CHAPTER I. 
Anglo-Saxon Period 

The original inhabitants of Britain 
were of the Celtic race. They survive 
in the Highlanders of the North of 
Scotland, and in the Welsh. The first 
Roman to visit the country was Julius 
Caesar, but it was not until 41 A. D. that 
it was finally subdued, and made a 
Roman Province. 

Under Roman Government were built 
Walled Towns, Roads, Temples, Baths, 
etc. ; trade and commerce were encour- 
aged, and many barbarous customs 
abolished, among them the aboriginal re- 
ligion Druidism, which required human 
sacrifices. 

Secure in the protection of the most 
powerful nation in the world the inhab- 
itants lost their warlike character, and 
became more skilled in the arts of peace 
than in those of war. Thus, when the 
Roman legions were recalled to defend 
Rome from the attacks of the Goths, in 
410 A. D., they fell an easy prey to their 
savage neighbors of the main land. 

First came the Jutes, who settled Kent, 
(449) ; then the Angles, who settled 



Anglia, Mercia, and Northumberland; 
and then the Saxons, who made settle- 
ments in Essex, Sussex and Wessex. 
The original inhabitants were driven to 
the mountain fastnesses, while the two 
most powerful of the invaders gave their 
name to the race and country. 

The history of the period of Anglo- 
Saxon supremacy is mainly an account of 
the struggle for leadership between the 
seven settlements just mentioned; it ter- 
minated in the supremacy of Wessex, 
under King Egbert, who is called the 
First King of England. 

POETS 

The only noted poet of the Anglo- 
Saxon period was Caedmon. 

Caedmon 

Born in Northumbria about 600, and 
died in 680 A. D. The story is that, 
while drinking with some of his com- 
panions, he was so smitten with shame at 
not being able to join in their improvised 
songs, that he wandered out and fell 
asleep in a stable. Here he thought him- 
self confronted by an angel, who bade 
him sing "the origin of things/' and he, 
who had never before uttered a note, 
opened his lips and sang. 

Filled with his new gift he hastened 
to make it public, reciting some of the 



verses as he remembered them. He was 
received into the monastery, and here 
the brethren read the Bible to him from 
Genesis to Revelations, while he turned 
it into poetry. 

Thus, his only work is called "The 
Paraphrase." It contains the stories of 
the Creation, the Revolt, the Fall, the 
Flood and the Exodus. There is only 
one manuscript of it, and this was acci- 
dentally discovered in 1655. 

In the subject and nature of his great 
w r ork he somewhat resembles Milton, and 
has thus been styled the "Saxon Milton." 

Most of the poetry of this period was 
comprised in war songs and tales of de- 
parted heroes, which — in the absence of 
chronicles — could be best preserved and 
handed down in this way. It was rough 
and rugged, and characterized by no 
rules of art, (there were none yet for- 
mulated). 

PROSE 

Bede 

The first prose writer of note was 
Bede, a monk, born in Northumbria in 
673. From childhood up he was a model 
of piety and learning. He was a priest in 
the monastery of St. Paul, Jarrow, and 
a shining light of erudition in an age 
when there was but scant education. 

He was a living Encyclopaedia, an in- 
cessant translator from the works of the 



Fathers of the Church, and the first 
English Historian. 

His chief work is the "Ecclesiastical 
History of the English Nation" com- 
posed in Latin, and the source from 
which we derive most of our knowledge 
of the Anglo-Saxon Church, customs, 
and institutions. 

During his life he was the centre of a 
Literary Circle which gathered at Jarrow 
to receive instruction from him. 

In an age of war and rapine, he stands 
alone as a civilizing and christianizing 
medium. 

Alfred 

The other noted writer of this period 
was the good King Alfred, familiar to 
all in the story of the Burnt Cakes. 
Under him, as the son of King Egbert, 
Wessex ruled the heptarchy. 

He was born in 849, and died in 901. 

In youth a traveler on the continent, 
in early manhood a warrior contesting 
for his throne with the marauding Dane, 
while later in life, secure from molesta- 
tion, he devotes all his time and ener- 
gies, to the improvement and civiliza- 
tion of his people. 

He employed himself in translating, 
from the Latin manuals of the time, 
such works as he thought improving for 
the people. 

8 



They are: 

Bede's Ecclesiastical History of Eng- 
land. 

Orosius' Universal History. 

Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy. 

Gregory on Care of the Soul. 

He wrote in the plain, uncouth Saxon 
of the times, without the importation of 
foreign words. 

His style is plain and unornamental, 
but earnest. 

Character. He united moderation and 
great practical sense with the greatest 
enthusiasm. 



CHAPTER II. 
Danish Supremacy 

After the death of King Alfred, Eng- 
land fell a prey to the Danish Freeboot- 
ers of the Northern Sea. They held sway 
until 1042 A. D., when the Saxon line 
of Kings was restored in the person of 
Edward the Confessor. 

The mark of their influence distin- 
guishable in the English people, is in 
their maritime spirit and enterprise. 

There are no writers of note in this 
period. 



CHAPTER III. 
Norman Supremacy 

In 1066 came Duke William, of Nor- 
mandy, known to us as William the 
Conqueror. 

In the single battle of Hastings, 
(1066), he subdued all England. 

The History of the Normans is as fol- 
lows : 

They came originally from the North, 
and were pirates like the Danes. They 
penetrated and settled Northern France, 
which they called Normandy. Under 
the influence of a genial climate, and by 
intermarriage with the French, they be- 
came a polished and refined people. 

To hold the country, William divided 
it into allotments, which were held by 
Norman Lords with their retainers. 
These men held the land only at the 
pleasure of the King. 

They constituted an armed colony, 
ready to rise at a moment's notice from 
the King. 

The Saxons were reduced to a condi- 
tion of serfdom. 

Effects of Norman Conquest 

1. Introduction of Feudalism. 

2. Introduction of Chivalry or Knight- 
hood. 

3. Introduction of French Speech. 

4. Introduction of French Poetry. 

10 



5. Expulsion for the time of English 
from Literature. 

6. The establishment of a Foreign 
King, a Foreign Court and Foreign Prel- 
ates, causing an absence of internal 
wars. 

The condition of master and slave be- 
tween Norman and Saxon was not des- 
tined to be always maintained. The in- 
fluences that caused the fusion of the two 
races were : 

1. The Norman Clergy, w T ho in their 
religious capacity acknowledged no dis- 
tinctions of race. 

2. The Wars of the Normans made 
them dependent on the Saxons, and a 
community of feeling was produced by 
their common victories. Among these 
expeditions were the Crusades, (1200). 

3. Intermarriage of the two people. 
Henry I married a Saxon Princess, and 
in Henry II the Saxon dynasty was re- 
stored (1154). 

4. The loss of Normandy which 
caused the French to regard England as 
now their only home, and not a foreign 
country, to be held by the sword. 

It took two centuries for this amalga- 
mation. Meanwhile the Anglo-Saxon 
language w r as steadily working upwards, 
and displacing the court French of the 
Normans. This was greatly due to the 
fact that it was the easiest for the ordi- 
nary occupations of life. 

11 



The Normans brought with them ar- 
chitecture, war-like equipments, learned 
clergymen, schools, and refinement of 
manner. 

Kings of This Period 

William I, the Conqueror. 
William II. 

Stephen j Time of Crusades . 
Henry I ( 

House of Plantaganet 

Henry II. 

Richard I, (1189), Surnamed Coeur de 
Leon. 

John, time of Magna Charta, loss of 
Normandy. 

Henry III. 

The Crusades occupied a large portion 
of this period. They produced a marked 
effect on the age. Feudal Lords, to ob- 
tain money for the Crusades, sold the 
rights of municipal government to the 
towns, which they had formerly owned. 
Numerous sales of land for the same 
purpose induced commercial activity. 

Literature 

During this period there belongs but 
one writer of note, namely, Roger Bacon, 
more familiarly known as Friar Bacon. 

Born in 1214 of a wealthy family, sub- 
sequently reduced in circumstances. He 

12 



graduated at Oxford, and then in medi- 
cine at Paris, spending meanwhile all his 
patrimony in costly experiments — chiefly 
in Physics. 

Returning to England without money, 
he became a mendicant friar of the or- 
der of St. Francis, but was constantly 
under supervision as a heretic, and one 
who had dealings with the Evil One. This 
suspicion was fostered by the jealousy 
of his associates, and his own wonderful 
discoveries in physical science. 

In 1267 at the request of the Pope, 
who had heard of his growing fame, he 
wrote his chief work the "Opus Ma jits." 

It is divided into six parts. 

Part I. Treats of the sources of er- 
ror, and causes of ignorance, in which he 
maintains that a philosopher, to be a true 
one, must be without "prejudice, passion 
or sloth," and free from the common 
error of having a preconceived idea, 
with which everything else is made to 
harmonize, right or wrong. 

Part II. Is a discussion of the rela- 
tions between Theology and Philosophy, 
to the effect that a better understanding 
of created things gives us a better appre- 
ciation of an Infinite Being. 

Part III. Treats of the Utility of 
Grammar. 

Part IV. Treats of Mathematics. 

Part V. Is a treatise on perspective, 
in which are very full and very accu- 

13 



rate discussions of the laws of reflection 
and refraction, and on the construction 
of mirrors and lenses. 

Part VI. Treats of experimental sci- 
ence, (the true study of all physical 
laws). 

It's name "Opus Majus" is appropri- 
ate, as it embraces all the science, reli- 
gion and philosophy of his day. 

The greatest scholar of the period, fit 
successor of the venerable Bede. There 
was no branch of learning in which he 
was not a master. He gave the receipt 
for Gun Powder ; he was the first to tell 
of the different kinds of Gases. In addi- 
tion he predicted many discoveries real- 
ized by future ages, such as the Balloon, 
Railroad, Steamboat, etc. 

The Church grown rich and indolent 
was becoming addicted to the most gross 
excesses. In consequence it became the 
object of his attack during his later life. 
For this reason he spent the last fourteen 
years of his life in prison, dying in 1294. 

The time was not ripe for the man 
either in the way of reform or science. 

He stands alone, a giant among his 
contemporaries. 



CHAPTER IV. 
The next distinct period in English 
Literature, is that of the time of Edward 
III, or Chaucer's Age. It was an age of 
remarkable literary activity. 

14 



Influences 

1. The splendid triumphs of Edward 
III in France, followed by those of his 
son, the Black Prince, (Battles of Cressy 
and Potiers), produced great national 
prosperity and exultation, occasioning a 
similar rise in Literature. 

In this history repeats itself. The 
most brilliant period of Greek Literature 
was after Greece had conquered the 
Persians. Rome's period of literary ac- 
tivity did not begin until after she had 
conquered her great rival Carthage, and 
virtually had the civilized world beneath 
her feet. 

2. Of a religious nature. The rival 
Popes had thrown discredit on the Es- 
tablished or Roman Catholic Church. 
The prosperity of the times occasioned 
the rise of a middle or industrial class of 
yoemen, never addicted to religion or 
the toleration of religious abuses. Finally 
the corruption of the monasteries, now 
grown enormously wealthy, added to 
these growing tendencies towards reli- 
gious discontent, causing people to think 
and write. 

All this was the distant rumblings of 
the coming storm of the Reformation or 
Rise of Protestantism. 

3. Influence of the Latin Language 
and Literature, chiefly in Latin works on 
Christianity. 

4. Influence of French Literature and 

15 



Language, shown chiefly in poetry. In 
France it was the age of Romance and 
Chivalry, and sentimentalism in every 
form, and this was felt in English 
writers. 

5. Influence of Italian Literature and 
Language. In Italy this was a period of 
the greatest activity in literature ; it was 
the time of Dante, Petrarch and Boc- 
caccio. 

This was the result of the Rennais- 
sance, which did not reach England for 
almost a century and a half. 

6. One of the most important influ- 
ences was the language itself. It had 
now received its rigid and uninflexional 
form. It was thus capable of admitting 
words of every form, and from every 
language. Now for the first time Eng- 
land may be said to have a national lan- 
guage. Previous to this, the Court lan- 
guage had been Norman-French, which 
had degenerated into a mere patois ; the 
language of the masses, Anglo-Saxon; 
and that of theology, Latin. There had 
also previously been three dialects of the 
Anglo-Saxon, Northern, Middle and 
Southern, 

The Middle dialect, a mean between 
the Northern and Southern now gains 
supremacy, owing to the fact that Oxford 
and the Court were situated in the Mid- 
dle district, and Chaucer wrote in the 
Midland dialect. 

16 



Poetry 

A direct result of the prevailing reli- 
gious discontent was William Langland, 
a man of the lower class. About 1362 he 
published his poem, "Vision of Piers 
Plowman/' 

The w r ork is a religious allegory in 
three parts, Do-well, Do-better, and 
Do-best. 

Pilgrims go in search of Do-well, 
Do-better and Do-best. They put them- 
selves under the guidance of Piers the 
Plowman, so-called from being a man of 
works, not words. 

He teaches them that the best way to 
find what these (Do-well, etc.) are, is 
by work, and sets them to w r ork in his 
vineyard. They finally find the righteous 
life, which is typified in Piers the Plow- 
man, who is Christ. 

It is the voice of discontent raised by 
a poor man against the rich and vicious 
clergy. Under various names they are 
satirized ; Envy is represented as a friar, 
Sloth a rhyming priest, etc. 

It is written in plain English, and very 
carefully written. The author is said to 
have revised it three times., 

Here we have the second of our peas- 
ant poets, of whom Caedmon was the 
first. 

Gower, (1325-1408). 

A court poet; at the suggestion of 
King Richard, he wrote a very long and 

17 



somewhat prosy poem, entitled "Con- 
fessio Amantis." An unhappy lover 
goes to a priest for consolation. The 
priest explains to him the impediments 
to love. The work is thirty thousand 
lines in length, and didactic in the ex- 
treme. His other works were "Vox 
Clamantis" written in French, and 
"Speculum Medetantis" in Latin. His 
chief claim to excellence lay in the dig- 
nity of his style, a rare thing in this age 
of French frivolity, and in the charming 
stories, with which his works are inter- 
spersed. These are not original, but 
gleaned from legendary lore. The 
"Trumpet of Death" is one of the best. 

In Hungary, when a man was con- 
demned to die, his sentence was an- 
nounced to him by the blast of a brazen 
trumpet before his home. In the morn- 
ing after a banquet, at which the King 
was plunged in the deepest melancholy, 
the fatal trumpet sounded before the 
door of his brother's house. 

The brother comes to the palace over- 
powered with grief. Whereat the King 
solemnly says, that if such grief is 
awakened by the death of the body, how 
much greater must have been the grief 
caused by the thought that had entered 
his mind the night before, as he sat 
among his guests — the thought of that 
eternal death, the wages of sin. The 
tale of Florent is as follows : a knight is 

18 



attacked in a wild forest, taken to a cas- 
tle, and commanded on pain of death to 
tell 

"what alle women most desire. ,, 
He is granted leave of absence to find 
out; in vain he inquires of the wisest. 
Finally a foul old w^itch, whom he meets, 
offers him the solution, if in return he 
will wed her. He consents, although 
with loathing. By her answer, which is 
"What alle women lievest would 
be sovereign of mannes love." 
th$ riddle is solved; he is free, but com- 
pelled to marry the loathsome creature, 
who, on a sudden becomes a lovely 
maiden compelling him to say, whether 
by night or by day he will have her thus. 
He leaves the choice to her, and for this 
surrender of his will to hers ("what alle 
women most desire,") has her both by 
night and day. 

Gower occupies the position of a 
bridge between Langland and Chaucer. 
He is somewhat of a reformer and a 
good story teller. 

History 

Of the early part of this period is 
Robert of Gloucester, who wrote a his- 
tory of England in verse, down to the end 
of the reign of Henry III (1272). 

He was followed by Robert Manning, 
who also wrote a history of England, 
dating from the time of its mythical 
founding by the Roman Brutus. 

19 



The course of history was thus from 
oral ballads and traditions, which were 
sung, into much poorer written rhythm. 

Prose 

We have in this period our first trav- 
eler, Mandeville, and one of the greatest 
of English divines, WyclifTe, who, as a 
reformer, was the immediate predecessor 
of Martin Luther (1485). 

Mandeville, (1300 to 1371) 

Born at St. Albans in 1300; entered 
the profession of medicine, but home 
was no place for his restless spirit. He 
left England at the age of twenty-two, 
and visited all the countries of the East. 

He gives us an account of the cus- 
toms of the various nations he visited, 
and an account of his own adventures in 
a work, entitled "Travels." It was com- 
posed first in Latin, then translated into 
French, and finally into English. Many 
of the stories he tells were of course su- 
perstitious fictions, but he tells of a num- 
ber of things, not believed by his own 
age, that have afterwards been verified. 
Among these he mentions the small feet 
of the Chinese women, the custom in 
India of burying wives with their hus- 
bands (in vogue as late as 1850), trees 
bearing wool (cotton), the curved nature 
of the earth's surface, the hippopotamus 
and crocodile. 

20 



Influence 

Conversant with all the languages of 
the globe, he could not fail to enrich that 
in which he wrote, and his chief contri- 
bution to literature is in the number of 
foreign words he brought in and domes- 
ticated. 

Wycliffe, (1324 to 1384) 

Born in the village of Wycliffe, 1324. 
England was the first nation to cast off 
the shackles of Catholicism, and in 
Wycliffe's time the trouble between the 
Crown and the Pope was beginning to 
crop out. Wycliffe was the bitter as- 
sailant of the church; besides being an 
ambassador to Burges to protest against 
the claims for tribute made by the Pope, 
he spent his life in writing pamphlets 
against it. upheld in his heretical posi- 
tion by the powerful hand of John of 
Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. 

While Wycliffe's purpose was ethical, 
John of Gaunt\s was purely political and 
mercenary, his design being to drive the 
prelates from office and seize their 
wealth. On the accession of Richard II, 
a firm friend of the Church, Wycliffe 
was forbidden to teach in the University 
of Oxford. He therefore retired to 
Lutterworth, where he had the living of 
a very poor church, and here translated 
the English Bible. 

21 



The chief points in which he attacks 
the Roman Catholic Church were as fol- 
lows : — 

1. God rules all, and in his relations 
to him, the King does not stand below 
the Pope. 

2. Men should appeal to God, not the 
intervening priest; the Roman Church 
had no true claim to headship over other 
churches. 

3. Priests cannot absolve from sin; 
temporal privileges cannot be exacted by 
spiritual censures. 

4. Ecclesiastical Courts should be 
subject to the civil. 

He is our second great reformer, 
Roger Bacon having been the first. His 
age was not ripe for the reception of 
Protestantism, else there would have 
been no need for a Martin Luther. His 
Bible was the basis of Tyndall's, which, 
in the version of King James, we now 
use. After his death his bible was pro- 
scribed, his body dug up and thrown to 
the vultures. His influence survived in 
a persecuted sect called Lollards. 

Chancer, (1340-1400) 

An old tombstone is the authority for 
the date 1328, as the time of Chaucer's 
birth. There are three reasons for sup- 
posing this to be incorrect. 

1. He was a page at court in 1357, 
and by this date he would have been 

22 



twenty nine years old, an age which 
would make it absurd for him to be a 
page. 

2. We have records of his serving in 
the army at a time, when 1328 w^ould 
make him too old for service. 

3. According to this date, the Canter- 
bury Tales would have been written in 
his sixtieth year. This is an unmistak- 
able error. It would indeed be strange if 
an author should write his best work at 
the end of his life and not in his matur- 
ity. So w r e may safely place the date of 
his birth at about 1340; place, London. 

From being a page at court, he was 
appointed on various foreign embassies, 
in all of which he distinguished himself. 
In one of these, to Italy, he met Dante, 
Petrarch and Boccaccio. 

Under Edward III, he held various of- 
fices, such as collector of duties on wools 
and hides, and was afterwards collector 
of all customs at the port of London. 
Besides this, he was in receipt of numer- 
ous pensions, a pitcher of wine from the 
king's cellar each day being one. On the 
accession to the throne of Richard III, 
(1390) he lost these emoluments, was in 
disfavor at court, and for a time in very 
needy circumstances. He died October 
25, 1400, and was the first to be buried 
in the now famous Poet's Corner in 
Westminster Abbey. 

He was of middle stature, had yellow T 

23 



hair, and was somewhat inclined to cor- 
pulency. His eyes had a trick of droop- 
ing, and were somewhat dazed by his 
constant application to the business of his 
various offices, and his assiduous reading 
and writing. 

Chaucer was a versatile genius, who 
amid the cares of business and the dis- 
tractions of Court life and diplomatism, 
found time to write for his own amuse- 
ment. He himself says that he was a 
lover of good cheer and good wine, and 
was wont to linger long at the festal 
board. 

In his early writings he shows strong- 
ly the influence of the French Romantic 
School. 

During this time his most important 
work was "The Romaant of the Rose'' a 
highly sentimental work, detailing under 
the guise of a Rose, the trials of a lover. 
This may be said to have been the last 
one of these romantic works written in 
English. The rose is situated in a garden 
surrounded by high walls, on which are 
Hatred, Avarice, Envy and Sorrow. This 
influence was dominant in his writings 
until 1372. At this time he visited Italy, 
and was so impressed with the style of 
the writers he met (Dante and others), 
that from then on to 1384 his foreign 
models were Italian, and the Italian in- 
fluence is strongly marked in all his 

24 



works. While imbued with this Italian 
spirit he wrote "The House of Fame," 
"The Knight's Tale" and "Troilus and 
Creseide/' 

The House of Fame is an imaginary 
temple built on an inaccessible height of 
ice, on the Southern slope of which, 
where the sun shines, are written the 
names of famous men perpetually melt- 
ing away. 

Fame sits enthroned within, dispensing 
to all their rewards. Slander is there 
too, cheating many out of the fame they 
merit. On pedestals around about the 
throne are the great historians and poets. 

Troilus and Cresiede is copied from 
Boccaccio, and is a romance of Troy, 
but the characters are those of the mid- 
dle ages. 

The father of Creseide, a Trojan seer, 
is warned by Apollo that the city must 
fall. He deserts to the Greeks, leaving 
behind his daughter Creseide. Troilus, 
brother of Hector, sees and loves her. 
She is coy, but at last confesses her love. 
However, a truce is proclaimed between 
the two armies ; she is reclaimed by her 
father, and although having sworn eter- 
nal fidelity to Troilus, finally weds Dio- 
mede, the Greek. Troilus himself is 
slain in his onslaught against the Greeks. 

The Knight's Tale was also an adap- 
tation from Boccaccio. 

25 



From 1384 until his death in 1400, his 
writings are purely national or English. 

It is only when he gives himself up to 
the delineation of strictly English char- 
acters, that he exhibits his true genius 
as an artist of character ; in fact he was 
the first to paint human nature as it 
really was. 

From his writing alone their arose a 
standard of good English; he virtually 
left a language where he found a patois. 

During this English period he wrote 
his greatest and most noted work "The 
Canterbury Tales/' 

Some twenty travelers bound on a pil- 
grimage to the tomb of the martyr 
Thomas a' Becket, (murdered by King 
Henry II, 1154), meet at the inn of the 
Tabard, near London. They each agree 
to tell a story going and returning. It 
was Chaucer's original intention to write 
the whole number of stories, but he has 
only given us about a dozen. The best 
part of the work is the prologue, in which 
is a description of the characters. They 
are all distinctly English, people of the 
middle class, creatures of flesh and blood 
seen in every day life, not mythical he- 
roes or enchanting princesses (the prev- 
alent styles of characters in literature). 
Chaucer may thus be said to be the first 
real artist of human nature. The char- 
acters are all of the middle rank, since 

26 



it would have been a punishable offence 
to write of the higher classes. They 
comprise a Knight, a Squire, the Host, 
a Lawyer, a Doctor, and types of sev- 
eral other callings in life. 

The following are his works in the 
three periods named. 

French Influ- {Ro mount of the Rose. 

ence to 1372 ) Complaint to Pity. 
Italian Influence, (House of Fame. 
1372-1384 \Knights Tale. 

{Troilus and Creseide. 
English Period, f Canterbury Tales. 
1384-1400 \ Legends of Good 
[ Women. 
His English was the condensation of 
the beauties of all three languages. His 
rhythm was the Iambic Pentameter 
(Decasyllabic) in rhymed couplets, the 
present heroic conplet. 



Scheme 
Of Rhythm. 



He is called the first artist of expres- 
sion — that is the first to command or 
guide his impressions, to deliberate, sift, 
test, reject and alter. His rank among 
English poets may safely be placed third. 



CHAPTER V. 
Under the favoring influences of the 
age of which we have just been writing, 

27 



English Poetry reached its height in 
Chaucer. 

The end of this period is marked by 
the fall from power of the noble house 
of Plantaganet in the person of Richard 
III, slain on Bosworth Field. Then en- 
sued a struggle for the throne between 
the rival houses of York and Lancaster. 
This contest is known in history as the 
War of the Roses, which occupied the 
major portion of the Fifteenth Century. 
It was ended by both factions uniting in 
Henry VII, who begins the house of 
Tudor, and a new era. 

The war of the Roses, though leaving 
no time for the cultivation of literature, 
was beneficial in that it wrecked the 
power of the feudal barons, on whose 
ruin arose an industrial middle class. 

The only literature of this period was 
perhaps the popular ballads of Robin 
Hood and Chevy Chase. 

Kings Continued 

Edward II. 

Edward III, (invades France, battles 
of Cressy and Potiers). 

Richard II, (time of Martin Luther). 

Caxton, (1412-1492) 

About this time the important discov- 
ery of printing was made by William 
Caxton. a native of Kent. He was an 
indefatigable worker, and besides pub- 

28 



lishing all the poetry of any moment then 
in existence, he translated many works 
from the French and Latin. It was some 
time before the influence of the printing 
press was felt in England ; between 1470 
and 1500 only one hundred and forty-one 
books were printed. 



CHAPTER VI. 

With the rise of the Tudors to power 
(about 1500), comes the greatest period 
of English Literature, known as the 
Elizabethan Age. 

The causes of the great advance- 
ments in Literature, Science, Art, Pros- 
perity and Freedom may be briefly enu- 
merated : 

1. There was first the Renaissance or 
revival of learning. In the fifteenth cen- 
tury Byzantium (Constantinople) w T as 
captured by the Turks, and its horde of 
Greek scholars driven westward, taking 
with them all the wealth of Greek Liter- 
ature. 

Italy was the first country to feel its 
influence, and there was the greatest 
period of Italian culture, which came 
about a half a century before Elizabeth's 
reign. This was the age of Italy's great 
poets Ariosto and Tasso, her greatest 
painters and sculptors, Michael Angelo, 
Raphael, etc., her statesmen Machiavelli, 
Savanorola and Lorenzo, the Magnifi- 
cent. 

29 



This influence was felt in England in 
the time of Queen Elizabeth. 

2. The Reformation. In 1485 Martin 
Luther, in Germany, began his crusade 
against the Catholic Church. The tend- 
ency towards Protestanism thus origi- 
nated, spread itself over England in the 
time of Henry VIII (he of the eight 
wives). He openly defied the Pope when 
excommunicated by him for divorcing 
his wife Katharine (vide play of Henry 
VIII, Shakspeare). 

By the time of Elizabeth, England was 
almost wholly Protestant. 

The Reformation induced freedom of 
thought, something quite unknown be- 
fore. 

3. Recognition of the people and 
their rights. Under Henry VIII there 
was a rise of individual rights or more 
particularly of Parliament as a protestant 
against despotic power. 

When Elizabeth came to the throne, 
the people and their rights began to be 
recognized by sovereignity. 

4. Prosperity. England now held the 
balance of power, for she had defeated 
Spain, the then most powerful nation in 
the world. Spain, the stronghold of the 
Catholic faith, enriched by her posses- 
sions in the new world, jealous of Eng- 
land's growing power, and at the same 
time wishing to chastise her for her lapse 

30 



from Catholicism, sent the famous Ar- 
mada to invade the island. 

The Armada was almost totally de- 
stroyed by storms, and the heroic con- 
duct of the English under the lead of 
their maiden Queen. 

5. Discovery of the Printing Press. 
The discovery of printing in 1450 aided 
in a general diffusion of knowledge. Gun 
Powder and the Bullet (just discovered) 
were also great levelers of distinctions. 

6. Lastly the chivalry of Elizabeth's 
Court elevated the character of the time. 

7. In addition there was an awaken- 
ing in science ; this was the period of the 
discoveries of Columbus and Galileo. 

Poetry 

The first of the poets of this school is 
Skelton. In his "Colin Clout/' we have 
an expression of the mingled hatred of 
Catholicism, and of awakened sentiment, 
due to the Reformation and Renaissance 
respectively. His verse is rough, but 
hearty and unaffected. 

Howard, Earl of Surrey 

He lived in the latter part of the reign 
of Henry VIII, and was beheaded at the 
age of twenty-seven for political in- 
trigues. 

His career was a varied one, and he 
was the first to exhibit that great versa- 

31 



tility which was the prevailing character- 
istic of the great Elizabethans. His chief 
contribution to literature was the intro- 
duction into English from Italian of the 
"Sonnet," and "Blank Verse," in which 
he translated the iEneid. Blank Verse 
was one of the most important additions 
to our literature. Shakespeare has im- 
mortalized it. 

An untimely death nipped in the bud 
one who showed the greatest promise. 

Sidney, (1554-1586) 

We come now to those who were di- 
rectly members of Elizabeth's Court, a 
galaxy of celebrities, the most noted of 
whom are Shakespeare, Raleigh, Sidney 
and Marlowe. 

Sidney was born of noble parents in 
Kent, in 1554, and early distinguished 
himself as an enthusiastic scholar and 
traveler. 

During the course of his travels, he 
was present in Paris at the massacre of 
St. Bartholomew (so-called from the 
fact that St. Bartholomew's Day was 
appointed as the time for a general 
slaughter of Protestants). 

Returning to England in his twenty- 
first year he became the idol of the 
Queen and the Court; was a cavalry 
officer, and a candidate for the throne 
of Poland, a post which he did not 

32 



accept owing to the solicitation of the 
Queen, who feared to lose "the jewel of 
her time." 

He met his death at the early age of 
thirty-two while fighting as a cavalry 
officer in the Netherlands. 

The most gallant of all the gallants of 
this famous court, yet the purest of them 
all; not ambitious, because he had with- 
out the effort the approbation of all. He 
combined in himself all qualities calcu- 
lated to please and to make popular. He 
was a writer, warrior, critic and courtier. 

His character is illustrated by the well 
known story of his death, w r hen, as he 
lay dying and water was brought to him, 
he passed it on to a poor soldier who lay 
moaning beside him. 

Having once temporarily incurred the 
displeasure of the Queen, he thought it 
politic to absent himself from court. 
While in this retirement he wrote for his 
own and his sister's amusement a book 
called "Arcadia," half novel, half poem. 
We may class it as perhaps the earliest 
novel. The story is of two princes, 
wrecked on the coast, and wandering into 
Arcadia in Greece. After many adven- 
tures they married the King's two daugh- 
ters. 

The style is ornate and fanciful, and 
in some places so impetuous and impas- 
sioned, as to savor more of poetry than 
prose. 

33 



It was very popular in its day, and 
contributed not a little to create among 
writers a bold and imaginative use of 
language. 

As a poet he is celebrated for his 
sonnets, of which he wrote one hundred 
and eight, all addressed to one whom he 
called Stella. 

His Defence of Poesy is an argument 
in behalf of poetry directed against the 
Puritans who dubbed all poetry as friv- 
olous. 

Raleigh, (1552-1618) 

Born in Devonshire in 1552, of a noble, 
but reduced family. Hence we find him 
early in life with nothing but his swordi 
and native courage to assist him in 
mounting the ladder of fame. He went 
abroad, when quite young, and was pres- 
ent with Sidney at the massacre of St. 
Bartholomew; became a leader in the 
Protestant cause in France, in the Neth- 
erlands, and finally in Ireland. 

Possessed of extraordinary versatility, 
he next turned his attention to Naviga- 
tion, and we fihd him fitting out pri- 
vateers on the coast of Ireland to prey 
upon Spanish commerce. 

Here we have the first evidences of 
his ready genius, for besides writing 
books on Navigation, he was the Queen's 
chief adviser during the time of the 

34 



Spanish armada and even opposed his 
plan for naval engagements to those of 
Drake and other old Navigators, and 
successfully too. 

He was early knighted by Queen Eliz- 
abeth, and during her entire reign con- 
tinued in her favor with the exception of 
a short period, when she had him con- 
fined in the Tower of London for an 
intrigue with one of her maids of honor, 
whom he afterwards married. 

Here he pretended to be in despair at 
being banished from her smiles and to 
become frantic, when she passed on the 
river below ; all of this ended in his being 
restored to favor. 

He had vast schemes for colonization 
in the new world, and for this purpose 
obtained patents from the Queen. 

He failed in two attempts to colonize 
Virginia, his half brother, Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert, losing his life while leading the 
second expedition. As the result of his 
first voyage, he brought back tobacco and 
potatoes, by the introduction of which he 
conferred a lasting debt of gratitude on 
Ireland. In his leisure moments he 
busied himself with many practical enter- 
prises. He introduced a form of land- 
scape gardening that has not been ri- 
valled, formed an agency for advertising 
(the first of its kind), and founded the 
Mermaid Club, a resort for the Literati, 

35 



which was subsequently graced with the 
presence of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, 
and others. While on a visit to Ireland, 
he met Spenser, whom he urged to the 
undertaking of his great poem, "The 
Faery Queen." 

On the accession of King James, he 
was condemned on an alleged charge of 
treason. 

He was finally, after fourteen years 
of imprisonment, beheaded on this old 
charge, to satisfy Spain, his most bitter 
foe. 

Although he led so busy and scheming 
a life, and his leisure was employed as 
recorded above, he found time to study 
and to write, ranking high as a poet and 
historian, even among the talented Eliz- 
abethans. 

He wrote no long poem (supposed to 
be the test of a great poet), nevertheless 
it was always his intention to do so, but 
he had not the leisure. Perhaps he did 
not have the necessary persistency, for it 
must be recorded that one of his worst 
faults was a lack of application to any 
fixed purpose. 

His poems are short sonnets and lyrics. 
The most famous of these are "The 
Soul's Errand" and the one in reply to 
Marlowe's Passionate Shepherd. His 
style is very simple and melodious. 

During the long period of his confine- 

36 



ment in the Tower under sentence of 
treason, he wrote a "History of the 
World/' 

It covered a period extending from the 
beginning of the world to the fall of the 
Macedonian Empire in 177, B. C. As a 
historian he was original. All previous 
historical writers had been but chron- 
clers. He investigates and analyzes the 
motives, institutions and causes of de- 
struction of nations ; in a word, he was 
the precursor of the modern historian, 
and may well be called the Father of 
English History. 

His prose style is that of the period, 
somewhat artificial. Had he devoted 
himself exclusively to literature, he might 
have occupied a high position. 

Character: In general, his aim was 
good, but he is unscrupulous as to the 
means he employs in reaching his end. 

His greatest influence w T as in paving 
the way for the settlement of the New 
World. 

Sidney and Raleigh Compared 

Both were shining examples of versa- 
tility in an age noted for it; both were 
noted for their gallantry; both were in- 
trepid soldiers. 

They have these and many other points 
in common. 

Raleigh however continually thirsted 

37 



for new adventures, and was unscrupu- 
lous in his ambition ; whereas Sidney was 
a model of unselfishness, generosity and 
uprightness. 

Yet Raleigh of the two was more of 
a man of action: Sidney does well as 
a model. 

Sidney is the placid, yet beautiful bay ; 
Raleigh the raging ocean. 

It would not be just to institute a 
comparison between them as to their 
effect on the world. Raleigh certainly 
left a more lasting impression, yet we 
cannot judge what might have been Sid- 
ney's influence had he attained old age. 

Spenser, (1552-1599) 

Born in London, in 1552, of poor par- 
ents, was educated at Oxford, served in 
the North of England as a tutor to a 
young lady, with whom he fell deeply 
in love and by whom he was rejected. 
He was of a dreamy disposition, and 
being almost utterly without practicality, 
could see no way to gain a living except 
through the Royal patronage then ex- 
tended to men of letters. He therefore 
became an assiduous hanger-on at Court, 
but finally received only the post of Sec- 
retary in Ireland, which he held until his 
death, although always longing and hop- 
ing for a transfer to London. Here he 
wrote a valuable prose work on the con- 

38 



dition of Ireland. Here too, he met with 
Raleigh, and that quick-witted genius 
perceived his ability and urged him to 
write some long poem, and introduce the 
Queen in it. 

He accordingly began what is now the 
longest poem in the English Language, 
"The Faery Queen/' In the person of the 
Fairy he represents the Queen, in whom 
is personified Glory. The other virtues 
are each represented by a knight as its 
champion. 

Six books were completed, comprising 
allegories of Holiness, Temperance, 
Chastity, Friendship, Justice and Cour- 
tesy. 

The Allegory is not maintained, but 
the poem wanders on in an aimless, but 
exquisitely beautiful way. For poetic 
invention and fancy, it has no equal in 
any language. 

It is the embodiment of true poetry. 

It is the first poem that could be com- 
pared with The Canterbury Tales. 

His other poems were the Shepherd's 
Calendar, consisting of twelve Eclogues ; 
the Tears of the Muses, in which each 
Muse laments the condition of affairs in 
England. 

On the occasion of his own wedding, 
he wrote the Epithalamion or marriage 
song, the best one in existence. Besides 
this, he wrote many sonnets. He was 

39 ' 



the originator of the Spenserian Stanza. 
The rhymes are line 1, 3; 2, 4; 5, 7; 
6, 8, 9. Many writers since his time 
have testified to the poetic instincts his 
works inspire. He may safely be ranked 
as the fourth English poet. 

Prose 
Sir Thomas More, (1480 to 1535) 

Born in London in 1480, studied law, 
practiced, was admitted to Parliament, 
became speaker, but retired to private 
life on incurring the displeasure of the 
King (Henry VII). Under the next 
monarch (Henry VIII) he succeeded the 
unfortunate Cardinal Woolsey, as Chan- 
cellor (1529). He was ultimately be- 
headed by the King for opposing his 
marriage with Anne Boleyne (mother of 
Elizabeth). 

At first, an opponent of abuses in the 
Church, he ended by upholding it with 
the greatest passion against the inroads 
of the Reformation. 

In this connection he wrote many theo- 
logical pamphlets, but all so inflamed by 
his naturally quick passion as to be of 
no value from a literary point of view. 

He wrote exclusively in prose; one of 
his works, The Life of Richard III, is of 
little historic value, but the best prose 
written up to this time. His other work 
is Utopia, which along with Sidney's 

40 



Arcadia, may be ranked as one of the 
early novels. It is a description of an 
unknown land, where everything is per- 
fect, in a word, a place where there is no 
need of civil service reform. It is a dis- 
guised attack upon the government and 
social state of the period. 

What is most strange about the book 
is, that all the improvements of today 
are depicted in this land of No-where. 

He was a lawyer, a theologian, a wit 
and statesman. To him w T e must award 
the palm of having been in advance of his 
age; he opened up a new field of litera- 
ture, that of the political romance, in 
which he has been followed by many 
successors, chief among whom is Swift. 

Hooker, (1553-1600) 

Born in 1553, and being designed by 
his parents for the trade of a tailor, was 
rescued from such a calling by Bishop 
Jewel, who recognized his ability. He 
was thus educated at Oxford. After 
graduating, he entered holy orders. Be- 
ing offered a high position in the Church 
(that of Master of the Temple) he re- 
fused on the plea that he needed quiet 
and seclusion for reflection. He married 
a perfect shrew of a wife, a woman who 
had once nursed him through a severe 
cold, and whom he had been persuaded 
to marry in the belief that he needed 

41 



some one to care for his health. 

He was the greatest of theolgical 
thinkers and writers. His chief work, 
The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, main- 
tained that the Bible was not a definite 
scheme of church polity or government, 
but asserted that the laws of nature, rea- 
son, and society were Divine institutions. 

His main object in writing it, was to 
put a stop to the frequent disputes over 
the application of obscure Bible texts to 
church government. 

His logic is masterly, his style some- 
what classical, but in other respects, su- 
perior to that of More. He introduced 
into polemics a new spirit, philosophical 
rather than theological. 

Drama 

This period marks the rise of the 
drama. 

The English drama had its origin in 
the representation of scenes from the 
Bible performed by strolling players. 
These performances were called Mys- 
teries from the mysterious nature of the 
subjects, the Incarnation, Crucifixion, 
Creation, Fall, etc. 

About the fifteenth century, a new 
class of dramatic performances arose, in 
which the characters represented some 
virtue or vice, such as Pride, Gluttony 
and Temperance. These are called the 

42 



Moralities, and were semi-religious or 
ethical. 

A still further tendency to secularize 
the drama is shown in the next phase, 
where the pieces were performed be- 
tween the courses at royal dinners. These 
pjeces were of a satirical and comic na- 
ture, and were called Interludes. 

The most noted author of Interludes 
was Heywood, jester of Henry VIII. 
His best work is the Four P's. A Par- 
doner, a Palmer, a Poticary, and a Ped- 
lar have a dispute as to who can practice 
the greatest deception, or rather who 
could tell the greatest lie. The Palmer 
is awarded the prize, when he says that 
he never saw a woman out of temper. 

The first real comedy is Ralph Roister 
Doister, by Nicholas Udall, published in 
1551. 

The first tragedy, that of Gorboduc, 
by Thomas Sackville (1562). Gorboduc 
is one of the early kings of England, and 
leaves his throne to two sons, one of 
whom slays the other, and in turn is slain 
by the mother; war, riot and famine 
ensue. 

The work is filled with bombastic 
declamation, rather than pictures of real 
nature and passion. 

The same author wrote a Mirror for 
Magistrates and a work called The In- 
duction. 

43 



The theatres at this time were rough 
places, with but little scenery and scarce- 
ly any seating accommodations ; the audi- 
ence a rabble of drunken and quarrel- 
some men; the players were also the 
authors of the plays, and held as very 
low in the social scale. 

The true founder of the drama, the 
first artist of nature, is Marlowe, the 
immediate predecessor of Shakespeare. 

Marlowe, (1564-1594) 

Born in 1564, son of a shoemaker, but 
received a good education, and at the age 
of seventeen began studying Theology 
at Cambridge. He turned sceptic, went 
to London and became an actor and 
author. 

He died at the age of thirty, while, 
attempting to stab a rival for the favor 
of a harlot. 

His first play was Tamburlalne, the 
Great. It is the story of a shepherd who 
elevates himself to the throne of Persia, 
and is boundless in his cruelty, having 
captive kings drag his chariot. It is filled 
with contending emotions, hate, rage, 
ambition, etc., and is supposed to be the 
representation of his own checkered life. 

Another play, the Jew of Malta, is of 
the same nature. Barrabas, the Jew, has 
been persecuted by Christians until his 
mind is crazed with hatred of them. He 

44 



sends forged notes to the lovers of his 
daughters causing them to slay one an- 
other, and poisons her. 

In Faustus he gives us a picture of a 
man who had sold himself to the devil 
for twenty-four years of power. 

He enriched the heroic style, relieving 
it from insipidness, and made blank verse 
a flexible vehicle for the communication 
of grand ideas. 

All of these first tragedies preserve!* 
the Unities. 

1 [Tamburlaine, the Great. 
Plays, J Jew of Malta. 
} Faustus. 
[Edward II. 

Shakespeare, (1564-1616) 

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on- 
Avon, April 23, 1564. His father, John, 
was a glovemaker, and his mother, Mary 
Arden, descended from an old Warwick- 
shire family. The father was an influ- 
ential man, and held what would now 
correspond to the office of mayor in 
Stratford, a town of some fifteen hun- 
dred inhabitants. 

Will learned a little Greek and Latin, 
and was somewhat versed in French and 
Italian. 

Some of the influences that might have 
turned his attention to the stage are as 
follows : 

45 



1. Coventry was near by, and here 
on Corpus Christi day were theatrical 
performances (the so-called Mysteries). 

2. In 1675, the Earl of Leicester gave 
a reception to Queen Elizabeth at Kenil- 
worth castle, at which young Shakes- 
peare was present. 

3. Richard Burbage, a celebrated 
actor of the times was a Warwickshire 
man, and a friend of the family's. 

William was the third child — there 
being two elder sisters. There were two 
younger brothers, Edmund, who became 
an actor, and Richard. 

His father failed when he was about 
sixteen, and he probably had to support 
the family. 

The stories about his early misde- 
meanors are probably not true. At the 
age of nineteen he contracted matrimony 
with Anne Hathaway, who was at that 
time twenty-six. 

He lived with her three years, and had 
by her two daughters, Susanna and Ju- 
dith, and one son, Hamet, who died. 
Failing to support his family he left for 
London, and of his life there we know 
very little. What we do know is gleaned 
from allusions to him by contemporary 
writers. 

Spenser in his Tears of the Muses, in 
which he laments the decline of various 
arts, speaks of one Will who had written 

46 



good Comedy but had ceased. Greene, 
an actor and writer, published in 1692 a 
book called "Groafs Worth of Wit," in 
which he shows great hatred of him, 
calling him "an upstart crow, who struts 
in borrowed plumage/' and "a Johannes 
factotum" (Jack of all trades). This 
gives evidence of the rise of the new 
drama under Shakespeare. 

On a list of actors, who played before 
her majesty on Christmas in the year 
1593, he stands third. 

This is all that can be found out about 
his life in London. 

In his later years he dabbled in busi- 
ness, and was very successful in his ven- 
tures, showing remarkable shrewdness. 

He stopped acting in 1607, or 1608, 
returning to Stratford in 1610, where he 
lived during the remainder of his life, 
doing no writing during his last three 
years. 

We may divide his literary activity into 
four periods embracing twenty-five years. 

1. The first period we may call In 
the Workshop. During this time he was 
serving his apprenticeship in the revision 
of dramas. His chief writing in this 
period were Two Gentlemen of Verona, 
Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus, 
and Henry VI. Comedy of Errors de- 
pends mostly on the expression, and the 
scenic effect. 

47 



Two Gentlemen of Verona belonged 
to the group which treats of the upper 
class. We may fix the date of this period 
at from 1588 to 1595. 

2. The second period is called In the 
World. He was now a favorite at court, 
a friend of many young noblemen, and 
well versed in the ways of men. 

He wrote at this time the majority 
of his historical works, King John, 
Henry IV and V, Richard II and III ; 
the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet; his 
comedies, As You Like It, Merry Wives 
of Windsor, and Taming of the Shrew. 
Date, 1595 to 1600. 

3. Out of the Depths, A new mon- 
arch had come to the throne, and many 
of Shakespeare's friends, among them 
the Earls of Essex, Warwick and Penn- 
broke were imprisoned on the charge of 
treason. He had quarrels with other 
intimate friends. In addition to this his 
son died. All this had its effect in sad- 
dening and souring his mind, consequent- 
ly most of the works during this period 
relate to the severing of ties. This is 
the period of his great tragedies, King 
Lear, Hamlet, Othello, Julius Caesar and 
Macbeth; his comedies were Measure 
for Measure, Troilus and Creseide. 
Date, 1600 to 1608. 

4. On the Heights. He had now re- 
joined his family, and was in a happier 
mood. 

48 



All the works of this period (and they 
are his best), relate to family re-unions 
and the making up of quarrels. The 
chief plays of this period were Winter's 
Tale, Tempest, Miranda, Pericles, and 
Cymbeline. Date, 1608 to 1613. 

The plots of many of these plays were 
borrowed, as Shakespeare possessed little 
originality of incident. 



CHAPTER VII. 

After this brilliant period we again 
have a lapse. The history of this period 
is marked by the elevation to the throne 
of the Scottish house of Stuart in the 
person of James I. We have mentioned 
the troubles that were brewing during 
the reign of Henry VIII between Parlia- 
ment and the Crown. These, quelled by 
the moderation and personal influence of 
Queen Elizabeth, now broke out again, 
and the two parties came to an open 
rupture in the time of Charles I, son of 
James. In August, 1642, hostilities be- 
gan. 

The king led his forces, called Cav- 
aliers, while the revolutionists or Round- 
heads were under the guidance of Oliver 
Cromwell. This was the earliest germ 
of the two parties called Tory and Whig, 
afterwards Conservative and Liberal. 
The result is well known. Charles was 

49 



beheaded and the government became a 
Commonwealth ruled by Oliver Crom- 
well. 

This gave a strong puritan cast to the 
manners, morals, religion, and literature 
of the times. An era of intense morality 
set in : the theatres were closed, and 
under Cromwell's regime a most strin- 
gent code of manners was enforced, 
which acted like a wet blanket on liter- 
ature. The only triumph of Puritanism 
was Milton. 

Poetry, (Metaphysical School) 

The school of Shakespeare was called 
the Natural School. Poets had deep 
feelings to express, but no rules of art 
to describe them. Every great poet 
makes rules for himself. Their ideas 
were expressed in good verse, but in a 
certain rough way. 

The next school, that of which we are 
treating, is the Fantastical or Metaphys- 
ical School. 

To make up for originality of thought 
they used prettiness of words, and strain 
after unusual ideas. 

The founder of the school is Dr. 
Donne, who dealt in extravagant figures 
of speech. 

Others are Carew, Herrick, and Suck- 
ling — court poets, Withers, Herbert and 
Drummond. 

50 



Of these Herrick perhaps is the best; 
he possesses quite a fund of humour, 
although of a coarse order. 

Somewhat distinct from these is Abra- 
ham Cowley, noted for his precocity. His 
great faults are lack of naturalness, and 
a too great fondness for ingeniousness. 
He is especially noted for his transla- 
tions from Anacreon. Like a giant 
among pigmies stands Milton, who wrote 
at this time. 

Milton, (1608 to 1674) 

Born in London in 1608, graduated at 
Oxford, traveled abroad, but returned on 
the breaking out of the trouble between 
parliament and Charles I. 

During the period of the Common- 
wealth he acted as Cromwell's Foreign 
Secretary. 

While in this office he was constantly 
engaged politically in a war of pamphlets 
in defense of democratic government, 
and religiously in defense of Puritanism. 
He wrote so much in this way that he 
lost his eyesight and during the latter 
half of his life was entirely blind. 

In character he was strictly moral. His 
one great aim in life was to write an 
English epic, and he strove by the purity 
of his life to make himself worthy of his 
task! His literary activity may be di- 
vided into three periods. The first is that 

51 



of his early life up to the time of his 
entrance into politics. This is the period 
of his most charming short poems, 
U Allegro, II Penseroso, and ComuSj a 
masque that was well received at court. 
The second period is that of his prose 
writings in connection with Government 
affairs. His prose style is very poor. 

The third stage is that of his great 
poems, Paradise Lost, Paradise Re- 
gained, and Samson Agonistes. As an 
epic poem Paradise Lost is superior to 
anything with the exception perhaps of 
the writings of Homer and Vergil. Par- 
adise Regained shows a falling off in 
power. Samson Agonistes is the story 
of the blind Samson and the Philistines 
told by a blind man. He ranks next to 
Shakespeare in the list of great poets. 

Drama 

Now begins the decline of the Drama. 
The causes are as follows: 

Plays have less plot, and depending for 
financial support on a public whose 
standard of morality was low, they were 
themselves immoral. It ended in the 
closing of the theatres in the time of 
Cromwell. However this was followed 
by greater laxity of morals, the reaction 
from Puritanism. Scenic effects also 
came to be more depended upon. 

52 



Jonson, (1574 to 1637) 

The first great dramatist after Shake- 
speare was Ben Jonson, sometimes 
called "Rare Ben Jonson.*' He entered 
Cambridge, but was recalled by his step- 
father, a bricklayer, who set him at work. 
Accordingly he ran away, enlisted in the 
army, and while in the Netherlands 
fought a single combat in the presence 
of the two armies. He was of enormous 
size, large stomach, big jaws, and mouth. 
On returning to London from the army 
he began writing for the stage, became 
prominent, received the appointment 
under Charles I of Poet Laureate, and 
a pension of one hundred pounds. Dur- 
ing the last twelve years of his life, being 
deprived of court patronage, he had to 
support himself by his writings, and was 
in great want. His style was eminently 
classical, preserving all the unities, and 
all his incidents lead to a climax, a de- 
nouement. He is not a good painter 
of human nature as a whole, but depicts 
phases of character, that is, if he wishes 
to show up selfishness, he gives a char- 
acter wholly selfish without other attrib- 
utes. His great object was to reform the 
drama, and have it written according to 
classical rules. Again he aimed to expose 

53 



folly and vice. His works are as fol- 


lows: 




1. Every Man in His Own 




Humour. 




2. The Alchemist. 


Comedies- 


3. Silent Woman. 




4. Volpone. 




5. The Sad Shepherd, (his 




best.) 


Tragedies 


[Sejanus. 
\ Cat aline. 



He was also a distinguished writer of 
Masques. Masques were light pieces in 
which many parts were sung, and were 
the original of our modern opera. 

In position he was socially superior to 
Shakespeare, was the literary autocrat of 
the day, and pre-eminent as a critic, and 
the king at the Mermaid Club, which he 
frequented. Jonson's efforts at reform 
were unavailing, and the drama became 
studiously indecent under Beaumont and 
Fletcher. 

Beaumont and Fletcher 

They pandered to the taste of the day, 
and as a result have no hold on posterity, 
although men of great ability. The first 
is lighter and more pleasing, the second 
more original and forceful. 

Their chief writings are The Faithful 
Shepherdess, Mad Lover, Philaster, etc. 

One step lower is taken in Massinger, 

54 



a tragic writer. Next come Ford and 
Webster, then Shirley, with whom the 
drama ceases for a time, as the theatres 
were closed during Cromwell's time, the 
result of their own indecency, and the 
strict Puritan spirit of the times. 

Prose 

The prose writers of this period are 
Sir Thomas Brown, Jeremy Taylor, and 
Sir Francis Bacon. 

As poetry languished, science arose, 
and we have Galileo, Kepler, Napier, and 
Harvey. 

Francis Bacon, (1561-1626) 

Entered Cambridge at thirteen, quit 
without a degree, traveled in France, 
returned to England and secured a seat 
in the commons. He was soon appointed 
to the office of counsel extraordinary to 
the Queen, but owing to the opposition 
of a jealous kinsman did not attain any 
very lucrative offices. Under the new 
King, James I, he was steadily advanced 
until he reached the post of Lord High 
Chancellor. He was accused of accept- 
ing bribes in his official capacity, and 
passed his latter years in penury and 
disgrace. 

During his life he gave all of his spare 
time to the study of natural science, and 
created a revolution in it. Every one 

55 



before him had attempted to reason out 
the phenomena of nature by the theory 
of deduction, like Euclid, a thing which 
cannot be done. He started out with the 
correct theory, namely, that natural laws 
must be established by experiment, and 
reasoned out by induction, that is, when 
the same thing is found true in a given 
number of cases, to conclude that it is 
To this end he wrote his great work 
called the Instauratio Magna or Renewal 
of Science. 

It is divided into six parts : 

1. A Survey of the Sciences. 

2. Precepts for the Interpretation of 
Nature (by induction, experiments, etc.). 
This is the most important part and is 
called the Novum Organum. 

3. A Collection of Facts and Phenom- 
ena of Nature. 

4. Consists of types and models, 
which place before our eyes the entire 
process of the mind in the discovery of 
truth. 

5. Specimens of the Scientific Sys- 
tem, which he intended to erect. 

6. Science in Practice. 

In addition to this he wrote a philo- 
sophical novel called the New Atlantis, 
in which are predicted many of the dis- 
coveries which have since been made. 
He is also noted as an essayist. 

56 



He started science on the right track, 
but his chief influence was on mental 
science. His essays on general topics 
have a high place in literature. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The period to which we now come is 
that immediately following the Restora- 
tion or return of Charles II to the throne 
after the Commonwealth had ended upon 
the death of its mainstay Oliver Crom- 
well. 

It is characterized by great laxity of 
morals, a revulsion from 1 the strictness 
that prevailed during the period of Puri- 
tan ascendency. At this time the news- 
paper began to be prominent. 

Poetry 

Th period to which we now come is 
the Classical or Critical School, whose 
productions are marked by great finish 
of style and great polish, but no fervor 
or originality. The best among the first 
of these poets was Waller, a court poet 
and a fashionable wit. His work is 
marked by clearness of expression and 
rhythm. Others were Sedley, Dorset, 
Denham, Marvell, and Butler, who ridi- 
culed the Puritans in his work called 
Hudibras. However, this school reached 
its perfection in Dryden and Pope. Pope, 
however, comes in the next period. 

57 



Dryden 

Born in 1631 in Northampton, received 
a University education. His first poem 
was written upon the occasion of the 
death of Lord Hastings ; its gross flattery 
on the one hand showing his servile and 
"toadying" spirit, and on the other hand 
its absurd and fantastic figures show him 
to be under the influence of the meta- 
physical school of poets (Donne, Carew 
and Suckling, et al.). 

His next poem was written in 1658 
upon the occasion of Cromwell's death. 
Of the several eulogies written at the 
same time this was accounted the best. 
Unlike the rest he was not betrayed into 
anything reflecting upon the Royalist 
party. He afterwards reaped the reward 
of this discretion in the appointment, 
under Charles II, of Poet Laureate and 
Court Histriographer at a salary of 
£2Q0. 

In 1660 he wrote a poem called "Astrea 
Redux" celebrating the restoration of 
Charles. About this time he began to 
win a reputation as an eulogist. About 
the year '63 he began writing plays (Wild 
Gallant, Persian Emperor, etc.). The 
great plague, great fire, and great victory 
over the Dutch fleet took place in the 
year 1667. Some Puritan had written 
a book called the "Annus Mirabilis" 
attributing the first two disasters to the 

58 



corruptness of the king. Dryden took 
this occasion to reply to it in a poem of 
the same name, in which he describes the 
defeat of the Dutch fleet. 

This shows improvement over former 
works, yet contains some fantastic im- 
ages. In this year he received the ap- 
pointment of Poet Laureate. From 1667 
to 1677 he wrote plays exclusively. Some 
of the more noted ones are Sebastian, 
Conquest of Grenada, All for Love, 
Maiden Queen, Spanish Friar. He first 
wrote in the rhymed couplet, but after- 
wards abandoned it for blank verse as 
allowing greater scope. 

His reputation does not rest upon his 
plays, which were as a whole but medi- 
ocre, although containing many fine 
parts. They are poor chiefly because 
he lacked the power to delineate human 
character as it is — in a word, dramatic 
truth. This he endeavored to make up 
for by startling disclosures, ravings, and 
indecencies. In 1680, at the age of fifty 
— a time when the productivity of most 
poets has ceased — he began writing his 
best works. 

One of these is Absalom and Achito- 
phel. It is the description of a plot to 
dethrone Charles II by his brother James, 
instigated by the Pope. James is Absa- 
lom, the Earl of Shaftsbury is Achito- 
phel, and the Duke of Buckingham, 
Zimri. 

59 



It became at once the most popular 
work of the day, and for fifty years was 
not exceeded in publication by but one 
work. 

Having developed a vein of satire he 
continued writing in this style; Mac 
Flecknoe is a satirical attack on the poet 
Shadwell and ranks in English poetry as 
the equal of Pope's Dunciad. 

His reputation as a poet was now per- 
manently fixed. With untiring energy 
he turned in a new direction, and wrote 
Religio Laid, a defense of the creed of 
the English Church. 

Turning to and embracing Catholicism 
he afterwards wrote the Hind and Pan- 
ther, an allegorical defence of Catholic- 
ism. 

He next began his translations, chief 
among which is the ^Eneid. Dryden how- 
ever was not a great scholar, and in 
translating he often used other transla- 
tions, which detracts greatly from the 
spirit of the original. 

1697 marks the date of his last poem, 
Alexander's Feast, a charming lyric, in 
which he displays a wonderful command 
of the technique of the poetic art. 

His last 12 years were passed in great 
want and distress, as the revolution had 
banished him from court patronage. 

From first to last he steadily improved. 

60 



Drama 

The restoration of the dissolute Charles 
II again brings the drama to the front, 
and it was even more immoral than be- 
fore. Plays are now written in prose, 
instead of verse, as heretofore. We have 
mentioned Dryden. Others are Etherege, 
the first to depict manners only; Wy- 
cherley, who wrote the Country Wife, 
the Plain Dealer, and others: Congreve, 
the best of them all ; Van Brugh, a jovial 
soul : Farquhar, an Irishman with the 
Irishman's wit ; and lastly Otway, whose 
Venice Preserved is a tragedy of a high 
order, one of the best since Shakespeare 
and Jonson. 

Prose 

Prose was now just beginning to come 
into prominence, and with it the news- 
paper. At this time figures Izaak Wal- 
ton, renowned for his Complete Angler: 
Evelyn, who kept a Diary of some in- 
terest: Pepys and Baxter. The greatest 
however was Bunyan. 

Bunyan, (1628 to 1672) 

Born in 1628, was idle and vicious in 
youth, but was afterwards reformed by 
his wife, adopted the religon of baptism, 
and was soon preaching. 

In 1660 he was imprisoned as a dis- 
senter and spent twelve years in prison, 

61 



during which he wrote his famous Pil- 
grim's Progress. His style is simple and 
idiomatic, but most effective. He may 
be called the First Great Revivalist. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Age After Dryden, Etc. 

(Four Georges) 

Pre-eminently a prose age, since it was 
now possible to write good prose. There 
was a great deal to say in this age owing 
to advances in all the sciences. Another 
influence was the progress in newspa- 
pers, and the increased facilities for com- 
munication, which scattered broadcast 
intellectual stimulants, also a closer con- 
nection with the continent and conse- 
quent expansion. History shows great 
progress during this period, but the his- 
torians are biased, and have not yet 
reached that stage where facts are pre- 
sented and the reader is left to draw his 
own conclusions. Great advances appear 
in theology, now first divorced from phil- 
osophy, and in oratory we have such men 
as Burke, Fox, the elder and younger 
Pitt, Erskine, Curran, Grattan and Sheri- 
dan. 

In Political Economy, Smith, Ricardo, 
Malthus, Letters of Junius and works of 
John Wilkes towards emancipation of 
the press. First great rhetoricians such 

62 



as Campbell, Dyer, Cams and Warton. 
In 1755 appeared the first dictionary. 
During this time the most important rise 
in prose is shown in the novel. 

History of the Novel 

The first novels paid attention to inci- 
dents chiefly. Such as Utopia by More, 
New Atlantic by Bacon, Arcadia by Sid- 
ney, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver s Trav- 
els, The De C overly Papers in Addison's 
Spectator. 

The first real novel (in the sense in 
which the word is now used) was Pa- 
mela by Richardson, the second, Joseph 
Andrews by Fielding, the third Clarissa 
Harlowe by Richardson. In 1749 Smol- 
lett wrote Peregrine Pickle. His novels 
are portrayals of real life (the meaning 
of "novel"), but of a low order. 

Sterne was the first novelist to de- 
velop character. Rasselas by Dr. John- 
son was the first didactic novel. 

Afterwards came the great novelists, 
Scott, Dickens, etc. 

Queen Anne Age 

About this time there arose a cluster 
of writers in the reign of Queen Anne, 
and hence this period is often called the 
Queen Anne period. It is distinguished 
by the rise of the Periodical Miscellany, 
and is in the main a prose age. The great 

63 



writers of the Queen Anne circle are 
Steele, Addison, Swift, De Foe, and 
Pope. 

Steele, (1675 to 1729) 

Born in Dublin, of English parents, in 
1675, was sent to Charter House School, 
and there formed an intimacy with Addi- 
son, which continued through his life. 

Was somewhat dissolute in his habits 
but always striving to do better; served 
as a soldier, and finally took to writing. 
His first work, called the Christian Hero, 
was intended for his own improvement. 

At this time he wrote some successful 
dramas that tended towards a reforma- 
tion of its immoralities. These were The 
Funeral, The Tender Husband, The Con- 
scious Lovers. They were all written 
with a definite view to reform, and hence 
the characters are hardly natural. 

His greatest literary enterprise was 
the publication of a series of papers; in 
this he was assisted by Addison. These 
serials were The Tattler, (1709), The 
Spectator (1711), The Guardian (1712). 
They were published daily, and were to 
contain the gossip of the day, but under 
this disguise they ridiculed the vices and 
follies of the day, and did much in the 
way of reforming a vicious age. 

Some of his papers were equal to Ad- 
dison's, but in the main he was over- 
shadowed by his great contemporary. 

64 



Addison, (1672 to 1719) 

Born in 1672, was educated at Oxford, 
and afterwards traveled in France and 
Italy. He was recalled from his travels 
by pecuniary embarrassments, but was 
speedily relieved from them by his poem 
on the battle of Blenheim, celebrating the 
victory of the Duke of Marlborough. 
This was called The Campaign. 

This placed him high in the ranks of 
the Whig party. He became a member 
of Parliament, and in 1717 became Sec- 
retary of State, having previously mar- 
ried a lady of fashion. He soon retired 
from politics and gave himself up to 
literary pursuits. 

His papers in the Periodicals are on 
every know T n subject, and are models of 
English prose. A series of them are 
somewhat in the nature of a novel, 
namely The De C overly Papers. Prob- 
ably the best is The Vision of Mirza. 

His greatest work was Cato, a tragedy 
that had a run in London of over one 
hundred nights, and was applauded by 
.Whigs and Tories alike. Indeed so 
spotless was Addison's life that even in 
the heat of political strife the opposing 
party never cast a reflection upon him. 
He also wrote a great many Hymns. 

His poetry was rather frigid and cold, 
but as a prose writer he has but few 
superiors. 

65 



De Foe, (1661 to 1731) 

Born in 1661. Tried a great many 
business ventures in all of which he 
failed ; received a government position, 
but lost this on the death of William III. 

He then interested himself in politics, 
but happening to write a work called The 
Shortest Way with the Dissenters, in 
which by advocating very severe treat- 
ment of those who differed in religion 
from the established Church, he cast 
ridicule upon their persecution, he was 
fined and imprisoned. Without resources 
he turned himself to writing as a means 
of support. 

He was a very voluminous writer, and 
had the rare faculty of making his fic- 
tion appear the narration of real inci- 
dents and events. So true is this, that 
for a long time after the publication of 
the work mentioned above, his dissenting 
friends held aloof from him as a rene- 
gade to their cause. His most important 
works are Robinson Crusoe, familiar to 
all ; Journal of the Great Plague in Lon- 
don; The Memoirs of a Cavalier — such 
a skillful work of fiction that it has been 
appealed to as authority on the Civil 
War, in which the scene is laid ; Relation 
of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal, a ghost 
story that bears all the outward signs of 
truth. 

He seems to have been a born writer. 
We may with justice call him the Father 

66 



of the Novel. Robinson Crusoe paved 
the way for Fielding and Richardson. 

Swift, (1667 to 1744) 

Born in Ireland in 1667, educated by 
the charity of an uncle at Dublin Uni- 
versity, where however, he made poor 
progress, finally obtaining his degree 
through kindness. He became private 
Secretary to Sir William Temple, then 
took orders, was disgusted with his 
parish (a poor one in Ireland) and re- 
turning to Temple, remained with him 
until his death in 1698, after which he 
edited his, (Temple's) works, dedicating 
them to King William III. 

Failing in his endeavors to obtain the 
Royal favor he accepted another obscure 
Irish parish (County of Meath, N. W. 
from Dublin), became an ardent and 
able pamphleteer on the Whig side, re- 
ceiving as his reward only fine pronv 
ises from Whig leaders in lieu of the 
advancement he longed for, plotted after 
and was doomed never to obtain. 

In 1710 he turned to the Tory party, 
which had just come into power, and 
during the period of its supremacy (1710 
to 1713) stood high in political circles, 
was a favorite of the court, and presum- 
ing on this favor sued for an English 
bishopric. 

We know him as Dean Swift, and the 

67 



Deanery from which he took his name, 
was that of St. Patrick's, Dublin, and 
was what he got instead of the bishopric. 
His failure may be attributed to his work 
called Tale of a Tub, a religious satire. 
We can well imagine that Queen Anne 
would hesitate to place on a religious 
throne one so naturally and openly with- 
out religious instincts, as the author of 
such a book must have been. 

At first hated by the Irish populace, 
he afterwards obtained unbounded in- 
fluence and favor among them, for op- 
posing what was characterized as a 
fraudulent measure and one detrimental 
to the interests of Ireland, namely the 
introduction into the country of copper 
instead of silver as small change. 

He opposed this effectually through 
what are known as the Drapier Letters, 
articles published in a Dublin paper un- 
der the title of M. B. Drapier. Yet 
Swift was not satisfied and seemed con- 
stantly to have longed for English resi- 
dence. 

A continued disappointment in this di- 
rection had its effect on a disposition not 
naturally sunny, and he finally died an 
idiot in October 1744. 

His most famous work, Tale of a Tub, 
was written in defense of the established 
church against the free-thinkers or dis- 
senters. 

Sailors usually threw out a tub to a 

68 



whale, to amuse him, and keep him from 
running foul of their ship. Swift's ob- 
ject was to divert the free-thinkers from 
their attacks, and as they drew many of 
their arguments from the "Leviathan," 
a work by Hobbes, the name "Tale of 
a Tub" is quite appropriate. 

Drapiers Letters have been mentioned 
they are models of invective and scath- 
ing saracasm. "Gulliver's Travels" are 
too well known to need comment. 

"A Modest Proposal," a. scheme to dis- 
pose of the surplus Irish children, is a 
fine example of Swift's extravagant 
humour, a humour that w r as all the more 
startling for being uttered w T ith the ut- 
most gravity. 

"Thoughts on Various Subjects" is a 
store house of wise sayings, such as "A 
nice man is a man of nasty ideas," etc. 

Through life he possessed the affec- 
tions of two women, both of whom died 
for love of him; to one he made a poor 
reparation by marrying her in name only. 
A sour, sarcastic man, a clever, concise 
writer, a leading figure in English litera- 
ture, but essentially a vulgar man. 

Pope, (1688 to 1744) 

Born at Windsor Forest, in 1688. His 
father was a retired linen merchant, and 
a Catholic, a fact which kept the son 
from attending the English Schools or 
Universities. Being sent to a Catholic 

69 



Institution he lampooned his teacher, 
and was in consequence sent home. At 
the age of twelve he began to map out 
a course of study for himself, and start- 
ed writing poetry, a pursuit in which his 
father encouraged him. 

In the interval between this and his 
seventeenth year he wrote a poem on 
Solitude, and an Epic of four thousand 
lines; but studied so incessantly as to 
almost kill himself, being naturally of a 
weak physical nature. 

During his early years and in fact 
throughout his whole life time he wor- 
shipped Dryden, whose expressions he 
borrowed, and whom he imitated. 

Although by nature of an exacting 
and querulous disposition he shows great 
filial regard for his mother, who seems 
to have idolized him. 

His first important work was called 
an Essay on Criticism, containing pre- 
cepts from Horace, Shakespeare and 
others who had written on the subject, a 
production showing great originality of 
thought for so young a man. Although 
defective in rhythm, it contains many 
apt and quotable sayings. In 1712 came 
the Rape of the Lock, the best mock 
heroic in the language. Its occasion was 
a quarrel between a lord and a fashion- 
able belle, from whose head he had cut 
a lock of hair. 

Windsor Forest (1713) shows more 

70 



spontaneity than any of the rest of his 
works, yet here his descriptions of na- 
ture are rather artificial, and he voiced 
the sentiments that were afloat in the 
air respecting nature, rather than nature 
herself. It is a description of Windsor 
Forest, his birthplace. During all his 
later life he lived at Twickenham, a place 
celebrated for this reason. 

The Dunciad, published in 1728, was 
a satirical poem leveled at his literary 
rivals and enemies, chiefly against Theo- 
bald who had published a better edition 
of Shakespeare than Pope's, and Cibber, 
quite a noted dramatist and actor of the 
day. It was a continuation of Dryden's 
MacFlecknoe. It is remarkable for its 
invention, and number of illustrations, 
but is not considered particularly witty 
now. Its influence has been somewhat 
over-rated, the chief authority for it 
resting with Pope — who we are sorry to 
say — w r as somewhat of a liar. 

His greatest work was the Essay on 
Man. His subject was too deep for him. 
The work is remarkable for its marvel- 
lous expression. This was followed by 
the "Universal Prayer" an explanation 
of the foregoing. He also translated the 
Iliad and Odyssey of Homer. 

As a poet Pope comes in the second 
class; in him artificial or critical poetry 
reached its culmination and height. 

He bestowed great care in polishing 

71 



and retouching all that he wrote. His 
rhythm and harmony are therefore per- 
fect. With him "form" was paramount 
to the subject in hand. In some respects 
he excels Dryden. 

Richardson, (1689 to 1764) 

Born in Derbyshire in 1689, appren- 
ticed to a printer, finally rose to the po- 
sition of partner in the concern. Died 
July, 1764. 

Began writing at the age of fifty to 
beguile his leisure, his first work being 
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, which is 
also the first novel (as we use the term) 
in the English Language; published in 
1740. Pamela is a domestic in the em- 
ployment of a young master who seeks 
to seduce her, but despite his repeated 
efforts and her own secret love for him 
she resists, until her virtue is finally 
rewarded and he weds her. 

Then he produced successively "Cla- 
rissa Harlowe (1748) and "Sir Charles 
Grandison" 

He was the first exponent of character, 
in distinction from his predecessors who 
were depictors of incidents. Yet he had 
not been much in real, active life and 
consequently his characters are more the 
creatures of his thought than represen- 
tatives of the life of his day. 

72 



Fielding, (1707 to 1754) 

Born in Somersetshire in 1707, re- 
ceived a good education at home and stu- 
died law abroad, returned to England 
destitute of money and began writing 
for the stage. His comedies achieved 
quite a local reputation. Plunged into 
excesses, and was one of the "bloods" of 
the time. 

He finally married, and receiving a 
small estate from his mother quickly 
squandered it. He was admitted to the 
bar, and while serving in the capacity of 
magistrate destroyed a band of robbers. 

After the death of his first wife, he 
married his cook. 

In 1742, he wrote Joseph Andrews, a 
work intended to ridicule Richardson's 
Pamela, It is the second novel. Here 
the situation is reversed and Joseph An- 
drews is pursued by his mistress who 
seeks to lead him astray. The chief 
character is Parson Adams, a jolly, ale 
drinking old clergyman. In 1743, he 
published Jonathan Wild, the story of a 
famous bandit; in 1749 came his greatest 
work, Tom Jones, a book that is still 
popular. Amelia was the story of his 
wife. 

He is superior to Richardson in style 
and originality. As a novelist he was a 
painter of human nature, or rather hu- 
man action, and thus his novels are val- 

73 



uable as being accurate pictures of the 
manners and customs of his day. 

Hume, (1711 to 1776) 

Philosopher and first great historian. 
His History of England is noteworthy. 

Gibbon, (1737 to 1794) 

A distinguished Historian, wrote De- 
cline and Fall of Roman Empire. He 
ranks among the first. 

Samuel Johnson 

Born 1709, died 1784, received a Uni- 
versity education, but had to struggle all 
his life against disease and poverty. 
However, he received a pension from 
George II in 1762. 

Appearance. Very much like his pre- 
decessor Ben Jonson, being large and 
corpulent, very eccentric and most dis- 
agreeably aggressive in conversation, 
and an enormous eater. 

Rank. Autocrat of Letters, and last 
of that race which had comprised such 
critics as Ben Jonson, Dryden and 
Pope. It is his conversations and verbal 
criticism on all matters of literature, 
more than what he wrote, that gives him 
his high rank. 

His reputation as a writer is steadily 
waning. The characteristics of his writ- 
ings are pompousness and the use of 

74 



antitheses, which style was, during his 
life, imitated so widely as to create a 
sort of Johnsonian school ; and he has 
influenced all subsequent writers. 

He attempted to revive the Periodical 
Miscellany which had fallen into disuse 
since the time of Steele and Addison. 
He called these publications The Ram- 
bler, then The Idler. He is famous as 
the first lexicographer, publishing his 
dictionary in 1755. His other works are 
Rasselas, a didactic novel, and Lives of 
the Poets. He was an associate of Gold- 
smith's. 

Goldsmith, (1728 to 1774) 

Born in a small village in Ireland, in 
1728. By contributions of his relatives 
he was sent through Dublin University, 
where he was not much of a success ; 
generous, careless and ungainly he was 
continually in trouble and debt. 

After graduating he returned to his 
native village, where, after tw T o years of 
idling, money was again raised for him, 
and he went to Edinburgh, where he stu- 
died medicine. Next without any 
money he traveled over the whole con- 
tinent ; returning to London he worked 
for an apothecary, at the same time do- 
ing scrub writing for publishers. 

In 1764, by his poem The Traveler 
(a description of his own wanderings), 
he became famous as a writer. In 1766 

75 



appeared the Vicar of Wakefield, his best 
prose work; in 1770 appeared the 
Deserted Village. He also wrote some 
good comedies ; his best was She Stoops 
to Conquer. 

Besides these he wrote many other 
works, composed mostly in haste to ob- 
tain money. 

At his death he was writing to catch 
up with his debts which amounted to 
$10,000. 

Despite the fact that he was such an 
exquisite writer, his conversation was 
most foolish, hence he went by the name 
of "the inspired idiot." Johnson and he 
were friends, and Goldsmith seems to 
have exerted a good influence on the 
iormer's literary style, and the latter on 
Goldsmith's morals and habits. 

Burns, (1759 to 1796) 

Burns, called the Peasant Poet, was 
born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1759. His 
father was a sturdy, honest Scotch 
farmer, who rented his little farm. Just 
at his death the family were ejected. 

He (Robert) and his sisters rented 
another farm, having secured a pittance 
from the original farm by becoming cred- 
itors for arrears of wages. 

Thus all his youth was passed in the 
drudgery of farm labor and in abject 
poverty. 

Education. Such as most farmer lads 

76 



received, about three months in the year 
when there was nothing to be done on 
the farm. 

He studied upon one occasion French 
which he acquired with great readiness, 
and again surveying. 

Being about to fly from England on 
account of some misdemeanour, he 
changed his mind and collecting some of 
his poems published them. Becoming 
suddenly famous by their reception, he 
went to Edinburgh and was the hero of 
the day: returning w r ith considerable 
money he married and purchased a farm. 
Failing in this, he accepted the position 
of exciseman in Dumfries, which he held 
until his death in 1796. 

His poems are the most beautiful 
songs in the language, and can all be set 
to music. Although he wrote no long 
poems, he is regarded as one of our first 
poets, and the greatest peasant poet. 

His practice was to write only when 
he felt in a poetic mood, first thinking 
out the whole piece, then singing it to 
himself, and finally committing it to 
paper. His most noted poem is the Cot- 
ter's Saturday Night, which shows by its 
religious tone that he was at heart a 
God-fearing man, although a scoffer at 
the frigid Calvinism of the day; he shows 
this spirit in the Holy Fair, which satir- 
izes the camp-meetings of the day. 

77 



Others are Tarn O'Shanter, the Mountain 
Daisy, and the Jolly Beggars. 

One of his strong peculiarities was 
that he never wrote for money. His 
greatest influence wa$ on Scott; and 
Scotland, which, at that time a despised 
country, he redeemed in the eyes of the 
world. 

Cowper, (1731 to 1800) 

Born in 1731, son of a clergyman, lost 
his mother at the age of seven years. 
Being naturally of a delicate constitution 
he was much bullied at school by the 
larger boys. He attended Westminster 
school, then studied law in company with 
Thurlow, future Lord Chancellor, and 
in 1754 was admitted to the bar. He 
was now afflicted with a strange sort 
of malady, an affection of the nerves, 
which plunged him into periods of pro- 
found dejection and melancholy. The 
Calvinistic religion at this time held 
sway in England, a religion of brimstone 
and eternal torment, and it had such an 
effect on Cowper, as to drive him mad at 
several periods in his life with the 
thought that he was predestined to be 
damned. At last, after trying several 
kinds of employment, such as "Reading 
Clerk" in the house of lords, etc., he was 
carried to an asylum, a maniac. 

Upon recovering he retired to the 
country with a small fortune which he 

78 



had, and there meeting with a family by 
the name of Unwin, he lived with them 
the remainder of his life. By them he 
was urged to write to drive away his 
hours of melancholy and dejection, the 
result being his first poem of any length, 
Truth. 

Then having heard a story from an 
aristocratic patron, Lady Austen, he 
turned it into verse and hence we have 
the well knowm poem John Gilpin's Ride. 
The same lady caused him to write his 
best and longest poem, the Task. 

With this poem begins the New 
School, that of today, known as the 
Romantic School, or the School of 
Wordsworth. Burns, Cowper, and 
Crabbe were poets of the transition 
period, that is, they stood on the line 
between the two schools. 

Cowper translated Homer into blank 
verse. He was very popular among re- 
ligious classes, for in his works religion 
was a living factor. He began writing 
in 1781, and had only about seven years 
of literary activity. 

He does not rank in the first class of 
poets, but stands high in the second. 

CHAPTER X. 
We might rightly call this new period 
the age of Scott. The following are the 
influences. 

1. The researches in and study of 
classic English. 

79 



2. The American and French revo- 
lutions, and the general advancement of 
the age towards Democracy. 

3. German influence. 

4. Inventions tending to establish a 
closer connection between the countries 
of the world. 

5. Rise of periodicals. 

Ivanhoe and Kenilworth are two of his 
best novels. 

Poetry 
Crabbe, (1754 to 1832) 

Crabbe begins one of the greatest eras 
of poetry since the Elizabethan, called 
the Romantic School. 

He has been called one of nature's 
greatest, yet sternest painters. Being on 
the border line between the two schools 
he partook somewhat of the characteris- 
tics of both, hence he has been nick- 
named "Pope in Worsted Stockings/' 
His chief poem is Tales of a Hall. 

Campbell, (1777 to 1844) 

A Scotchman who wrote a great many 
border ballads, such as LochieVs Warn- 
ing, O'Connor's Child, Lord Ulliris 
Daughter. He is a very quotable author, 
e. g. " 'Tis distance lends enchantment 
to the view." One of his poems, Hohe- 
linden, is quite well known. 

80 



Southey, (1779 to 1852) 

He and Coleridge married sisters. By 
his writings he amassed a considerable 
fortune. He was Poet Laureate. His 
most important poem is the Curse of 
Kehama. 

Moore, (1779 to 1852) 

A personal friend of Byron. Noted 
as a writer of hymns and patriotic poems 
for Ireland. It is supposed that these 
had considerable to do in bringing on the 
Irish Rebellion. He wrote one long 
work in six parts, namely Lalla Rookh, 
an Oriental tale. As a song writer how- 
ever, he is inferior to Burns. 

Keats, (1796 to 1821) 

Of a fragile constitution, he died at 
the age of twenty-five of consumption. 
Although of great promise he died be- 
fore reaching the maturity of his genius. 

In 1817 he published his poem Endy- 
mion, a severe review of which by Gif- 
ford is said to have caused his death. 
His next work Hyperion shows a great 
advance. His others are the Eve of St. 
Agnes, Lamia, Ode to a Nightingale, Ode 
to a Grecian Urn. 

Shelley, (1792 to 1822) 

One of the foremost of these poets, 
called an atheist for rebelling against the 

81 



strict Calvinistic theories of pre-destina- 
tion and damnation ; suffered domestic 
troubles, and finally went to Italy, where 
he died at the early age of thirty. Dur- 
ing his life time his poetry was not ap- 
preciated, but he is now ranked in the 
first order of poets. His works are all 
intensely dramatic. They are Alastor, 
Prometheus Unbound, Cenci, the Sensi- 
tive Plant, and the Revolt of Islam. 

Coleridge, (1772 to 1834) 

A peculiar genius, an opium eater, and 
dreamer, who failed to support himself 
or his wife (he and Southey had mar- 
ried sisters and Southey supported Cole- 
ridge and wife most of the time). He 
was the greatest man of his day as a 
critic and philosopher, and held a high 
rank as a poet, although what he wrote 
is but fragmentary. 

He was very visionary and was con- 
tinually projecting vast literary schemes, 
any one of which would have employed 
him a life time, and none of which he 
ever carried out. 

An eminent lecturer, but lectured with- 
out notes, and so wnat we know about 
these lectures are from the notes of au- 
ditors. He was in the habit of holding 
weekly receptions, to which all the lit- 
erary men of the day came, and he 
would discourse on various topics, some- 

82 



times three hours at a stretch, his topics 
being religion, philosophy, etc. It was 
through him that the element of German 
Philosophy was introduced into English 
thought. 

His one or two poems place him in the 
first rank. These are the Ancient Mari- 
ner, Christabel, and Kubla Khan. 

Scott, (1771 to 1832) 

The great novelist was born in Edin- 
burgh in 1771, was noted in early life 
as a story teller and an incessant reader. 
He seems to have been much influenced 
by Burn's writings, and it is probable, 
that, had not Burns lived and wrote, 
Scott would have been more under the 
English influence, and would have writ- 
ten in quite a different vein from w r hat 
he did. As it is he immortalized Scot- 
land and her traditions, and from a po- 
sition of literary insignificance she rose 
to a height that rivalled England, and 
Edinburgh became as much a literary 
center as London. In 1805 he published 
his first work, a collection of poems 
called the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Bor- 
der. Then in quick succession came the 
Lay of the Last Minstrel, M arm-ion f and 
the Lady of the Lake. He became at 
once popular, and his poetry was all the 
rage, thousands of tourists visiting Scot- 
land to view the scenes of these stories. 

83 



But soon his fame as a poet began to be 
eclipsed by that of Byron now just rising 
into prominence. Seeing this, in 1814 
he began novel writing, with what suc- 
cess we all know. 

The Waverly Novels are too well- 
known to need comment. The latter 
part of his life was occupied in endeav- 
oring to pay off debts incurred by a pub- 
lishing house in which he was involved. 

Wordsworth, (1770 to 1850) 

Born at Cockermouth in 1770. Was 
a man of dreamy temperament and 
sought seclusion from the world. Be- 
ing left a small fortune by the death of 
a relative he retired to GraCTiere, situ- 
ated among the lakes of the North of 
England. Near him lived Coleridge and 
Southey. Hence arises the name of the 
Lake School of Poets. In the outset of 
his career he proclaimed himself a re- 
former of poetic diction, and contended 
that the most common place language 
was suitable for poetry. For this rea- 
son his poems were for a long time ob- 
jects of derision. In the end he over- 
came the objection of all, became Poet 
Laureate after Southey, and died finally 
secure in his reputation as a great poet. 

His longest poem is the Excursion. 
We are Seven and his ode on the Inti- 
mations of Immortality are his best. He 

84 



is the best student of nature since 
Shakespeare, and has conferred an ever- 
lasting boon upon poetry by emancipat- 
ing it from the artificialties of the pre- 
ceding age. 

His rank is fifth among English poets. 

Byron, (1788 to 1824) 

Was born lame, led an eventful, and 
unhappy life. His marriage relations 
were unpleasant, and he finally separated 
from his wife, but by doing so caused 
such a scandal that he left England. He 
never returned, but lived in Italy, w T here 
he plunged into all kinds of excesses. 
In 1823 he went to aid Greece in her 
struggle for liberty, and there died of a 
fever brought on by exposure. 

The poem that made him, famous 
Child e Harold, is a description of his 
travels in six cantos. He began writing 
at an early age, and was very prolific. 
The Prisoner of Chillon, Don Juan, the 
Corsair, and others compose his most 
noted works. His style combines both 
symmetry, and beauty of expression, and 
originality of thought, a rare union, but 
is tinged with a morbid melancholy and 
skepticism that makes it far from whole- 
some reading. All his writings are in- 
tensely subjective. His love of nature 
was intense. We would feel inclined to 
rank him on a level with Wordsworth. 

85 



Prose 

Now came the period of the Periodical 
and Reviews. This magazine literature 
took the form of the Essay. Prominent 
writers in this line are Jeffrey, a noted 
critic, the famous wit Sidney Smith; and 
humorous Charles Lamb. 

De Quincey and Macaulay head the 
list of these writers. Macaulay is prob- 
ably our greatest historian. At the same 
time we have our first two American 
novelists, Washington Irving, and James 
Fenimore Cooper. In history great 
strides were made. Foremost among the 
Historians are George Grote, Mathew 
Arnold, Macaulay, Hallam, and another 
shining American light, Prescott, who 
wrote the history of Ferdinand and Isa- 
bella, Conquest of Peru and Conquest of 
Mexico. 



86 



Suggested List of Helpful Books 



In addition to the books of the authors 
herein cited, the novels of the later 
writers Scott; Dickens, Thackeray, Coo- 
per, Washington Irving and Nathaniel 
Hawthorne are recommended; and ex- 
cellent descriptions are also found in the 
works of our three famous present-day 
writers, John Burroughs, Hichens and 
Harold Bell Wright. Intimate acquaint- 
ance with these authors cannot fail to 
supply a most satisfactory style and vo- 
cabulary of the English Language. 

And further, no better plan of sys- 
tematic educatory reading can be sug- 
gested in concise form than the volumes 
cited in Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Book- 
Shelf entitled "Harvard Classics," which 
are a liberal education in themselves. 
These are published by P. F. Collier & 
Son, 416 West 13th Street, New York 
City, who will take pleasure in furnishing 
full information on request. The Five 
Foot Book-Shelf is most carefully and 
systematically planned and is one of the 
best means we know for the acquisition 
of a thorough knowledge of English as 
well as the affairs of the world and style 
of best world-writers. 

The Authors. 

87 



Ililllffi^ congress! 

022 012 147 



